


A Song That Has No Words

by weasleytook



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Pre-Canon, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-17
Updated: 2010-09-17
Packaged: 2017-10-11 23:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleytook/pseuds/weasleytook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A different time, a different games, but Haymitch and Mrs. Everdeen have always been connected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Song That Has No Words

  
Before the Quarter Quell, Haymitch Abernathy is just another boy from the Seam. Viola only knows his name because the girls at school like to blush and giggle when he walks by.

The day of the reaping, she's so blinded with tears watching Maysilee walk to the stage that she barely registers it when Haymitch's name gets called.

She looks at him once before they're ushered away to the Justice Building to see their families and friends one last time. The next time she sees him is on her television screen at home.

Watching the Hunger Games isn't something she wants to do, but even were it not required viewing, she feels compelled to watch and pray for Maysilee's safety. Viola isn't squeamish about the blood or gore, she's seen a lot growing up in an apothecary's shop. It's the loss of innocence that stays with you forever.

The only time she covers her eyes is as Maysilee dies. It's not the way she wants to remember her friend.

The next time she sees Haymitch in person is after he returns to District 12 as a victor. She wants to say something to him but she doesn't know what, and she never gets close enough to speak until the winter day she gets bold enough to walk down to the Hob.

Her mother would be horrified if she knew she was down here, but she's determined to find him. He's easy to spot walking down the street away from the Hob and towards Victor's Village, a bottle of white liquor tucked behind his coat.

"Haymitch."

He stops and stares her down as she trudges through the snow towards him. He no longer looks like the sixteen year old boy he was when he left. He is still handsome but looks more like a man than a child.

"I know you, don't I?"

Viola tries to look him in the eyes as she speaks, but finds herself staring at the black coal dust that runs through the snow beneath her feet. "I'm Viola – I – "

"You're the apothecary's daughter. Dangerous neighborhood for a girl like you," he says.

"I don't mind. I came here looking for you. Maysilee was my best friend and…"

Haymitch starts to shake his head as he gathers his coat around him and walks away from her. She barely catches him grumbling over the sound of the freezing wind, "I don't want to talk about it."

His long strides mean she has to jog to keep up with him, but she follows him all the way home to Victor's Village. Haymitch stops at his front door and turns to look at her in the dim light. "You're still here?"

"I just –"

"I told you, I don't talk about that. Not with anyone."

He opens his front door and Viola grabs the sleeve of his coat to stop him. "We don't have to talk. About that. It's just… no one else understands."

"You watched it on television, sweetheart. You don't understand as much as you think."

She looks up at him with her blue eyes wide, hoping he'll either pity her or at least find her lovely enough to keep around for a while. He hesitates for a moment and then pushes the door open to let her in.

The house is cluttered, but nice. She briefly wonders why his family stayed in the Seam when they could have lived here. Haymitch quickly builds a fire and when he's finished takes a seat next to her on the couch.

They don't speak nor does she ask him the hundreds of questions she wants the answers to. She sits in silence and watches him open his bottle of white liquor and take a long drink. They stare at the flames of the fire for a long time until Viola gets bold and takes the bottle out of his hand to take a long swig of her own.

She swallows it a bit too quickly and as it burns her throat she coughs loudly. Her eyes are watering when she looks back up at Haymitch who is grinning at her.

"First time?"

"Ugh. It's horrible… how do you drink this stuff?"

Haymitch laughs and takes the bottle from her as he replies, "You get used to it."

She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and cringes. "No thanks. I'm not going to make a habit of it."

"Neither am I. Just when it's cold out like this or when…"

His voice trails off and though she doesn't say so, but she doesn't really believe that. Her grandmother has told her stories of what happens to a lot of victors, how they either lose their minds or turn to drinking or drugs to dull the pain.

They talk for a long time, but never about the games or about Maysilee. But when he closes his hand over hers, she knows it means that he shares her loss. And when she gives him a kiss on the cheek at the end of the night, she means it as a thank you to him for looking out for Maysilee even as she took her last breath.

The entire winter consists of Viola telling her parents that she's going to go sit with Maysilee's sister, but in truth she spends most of her time with Haymitch. They talk about school, about other people in District 12, about things they've done and things they still want to do. Sometimes they don't talk at all, they just sit together in silence and he holds her hand. A kiss on the cheek turns to a kiss on the lips, her first, and it makes her heart pound so loudly she's afraid he can hear it.

Winter slowly turns in to spring, and the next reaping is upon them far too soon. Viola still has three years of eligibility left and she can feel Haymitch's eyes fixed on her as the name of the girl tribute is being drawn. She holds her breath and when the name isn't hers, she finally lets it out and looks towards Haymitch who is on stage. He gives her a solemn nod but there is no smile.

When the reaping is finished, she pushes through the crowd to the edge of the stage. Haymitch will soon leave for the Capitol to mentor his first set of tributes, a boy and girl that they have both grown up alongside. He will do all he can for them, but no matter what, at least one of them will not be coming home.

He leans over the stage and takes her hand in his, but says nothing. She can barely reach him, but leans in and plants a kiss on his knuckles before looking back up at him. They don't say goodbye, but the look she gives him says that they'll see each other again soon.

Haymitch nods and lets go of her hand as he's being shouted at by the Capitol escort to hurry up. He stops to look over his shoulder one last time and Viola just holds her hand up and smiles at him.

She watches the games as everyone does, and when the tributes from District 12 are killed, she doesn't know if she's crying for them or for Haymitch. When he returns home, he won't answer the door, not even for her. She overhears people in the Hob talking about how his drinking has become worse and that unless you show up with a bottle of liquor in your hands, he won't talk to anyone.

Viola wishes she could reach out to him again, that it could be like it was before, but he refuses to see her again. So she moves on and one day a dark haired boy with olive skin steals her heart forever.

They spend the next two decades pretending as if they don't know each other. Haymitch is broken and will barely meet her eyes on the rare occasion they pass each other by on the street.

The day of the reaping when Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place as a tribute, Haymitch ends up being taken away on a stretcher after acting like a drunken fool. But when Viola is walking out of the Justice Building with Prim, he is standing in the doorway looking tired but more sober than he was earlier. He stops her and takes her hand in his just as he did at the reaping so long ago. This time he kisses the top of her hand before lifting his gaze to her face.

He caresses the top of her hand with his thumb and nods at her before letting go. They need no words, they never really did. Viola already knows that Haymitch will do everything he can to bring Katniss home again.


End file.
